Characters in Disney Springs

brb1006

brb1006

Well-Known Member
Cmdr_Crimson said:
This is not like this has happened....Vader met during the Village Marketplace era in the early 80's...
http://www.disneyavenue.com/2015/04/darth-vaders-very-first-visit-to-walt.html
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But, let's not forget that the Coca Cola store is suppose to be getting the Henson Creature Coca Cola Polar bear for M&G's...
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Seeing that photo of Darth Vader at WDW some as early as 1977.

Little did he know of what's to come with Stars Wars and WDW.
 
WhatJaneSays

WhatJaneSays

Well-Known Member
Disney Springs/DTD/Village has had a fair number of M&G opportunities in past years but they've tapered off significantly over the last 8-10 years to almost none besides Santa, Goofy Santa, and occasionally 1 or 2 special events over the year.

Honestly, I was very surprised that the Character Dining place from the plans has yet to materialize at the new Disney Springs. (Or a child care space with some kind of M&G opportunity.)
 
Jon81uk

Jon81uk

Well-Known Member
SirLink said:
"If you spend $50 or more in a select Disney Springs shop take it to meet a character.in Disney Quest"
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Well if they can offer exclusive meets for Visa cardholders then why not add one for shoppers. I bet there are a lot of people who spend $50 in World of Disney alone.
 
SirLink

SirLink

Well-Known Member
Jon81uk said:
Well if they can offer exclusive meets for Visa cardholders then why not add one for shoppers. I bet there are a lot of people who spend $50 in World of Disney alone.
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That idea should only be used in conjunction with third party vendors they are the ones that need convincing that Disney Springs is a good location.
 
Cmdr_Crimson

Cmdr_Crimson

Well-Known Member
Animaniac93-98 said:
Both the Empress Lilly and the Original Chef Mickey's (pre Rainforest Cafe) had character dining. I agree that it's odd they have yet to bring it back with Disney Springs.
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Closest Character breakfast around the area is the Wyndam LBV (Formerly The Grosvenor Resort)....It only has Goofy & Pluto..And it's right across the street from the Marketplace side..At one point they had Goofy as a Detective with Pluto being his sidekick plus they had Great Mouse Detective Standees in the restaurant...
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TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
roj2323 said:
But if they have to go to these lengths to get people to shop the problem isn't the location it's the products offered for sale.
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Bingo!

If this rumor pans out, and they add Characters to Disney Springs roaming and/or doing meet n' greets, then that's an excellent piece of proof that all the other rumors about poor performance at this mall are true.

(If it's just an upcharged Character Breakfast at a restaurant like they've done before, then that won't be as dire a signal that things are failing mall-wide, just a tweak to the offerings)

I am in the camp that thinks Disney Springs looks like a nice mall, but the retail mix is all wrong for Central Florida. It's far too upscale and overpriced for the Orlando market. The vast majority of locals are a pool of working-class consumers living in a small Southern city with a relatively low income level and can't/shouldn't spend their money on this type of merchandise. The tourists are higher up the socio-economic food chain than most locals, but are not high-end luxury tourists at an upscale vacation spot like Vail Colorado, Martha's Vineyard Massachusetts, La Jolla or Carmel or Laguna Beach California, etc.

What's telling is that in the photo of the balloon salesman that was attached to this rumor, there is a light crowd and absolutely no one has a shopping bag in their hands. No one has purchased anything, they are just looky-loo tourists hanging out on the non-park day most of us have on our WDW itinerary.
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If and when Disney Characters show up in Disney Springs to try and drive more visitation and higher sales, then we'll know the mall concept is failing at its original goals and TDO is panicking to drive more customers to the mall. Store closures will likely soon follow in 2017.
 
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Cmdr_Crimson

Cmdr_Crimson

Well-Known Member
roj2323 said:
But if they have to go to these lengths to get people to shop the problem isn't the location it's the products offered for sale.
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IMO The name of this Kiosk is the true reason to Disney Springs that makes me not want to buy anything there....I'll go to the Character outlet on Vineland...
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K

kpilcher

Well-Known Member
TP2000 said:
Bingo!

If this rumor pans out, and they add Characters to Disney Springs roaming and/or doing meet n' greets, then that's an excellent piece of proof that all the other rumors about poor performance at this mall are true.

What's telling is that in the photo of the balloon salesman that was attached to this rumor, there is a light crowd and absolutely no one has a shopping bag in their hands.
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Some very interesting observations and thoughts. Disney has a huge financial incentive to make this transformation work and the company will. Individual restaurants (especially) and stores (some) seem to be doing at or better than early expectations. It is not surprising that not everything will work perfectly, perhaps and including the tenant mix. That may be one reason the diamond store appears to have pulled out. Disney's biggest challenge is marketing here, IMHO. Disney Springs is a much deeper dive into retail than the old Downtown Disney. The average tourist of any income level does not primarily think of Disney as a shopping Mecca. The company also needs to do a better job reaching out to and attracting locals. To do that, price points may need to be tweaked downward, or somehow make the implied value feel stronger. The Ganachery and Amorette’s Patisserie are moves in the right direction for perceived value, but even they need to find a bigger and more devoted clientele. I've heard very mixed reviews on how Sprinkles fares in that regard.
But Disney can be very smart about identifying problems and solving them when it needs to. Pleasure Island was such an initial flop the company actually paid workers to pose as partiers. It turned around nicely, and could have still been with us in some form today if the concept was allowed to grow and change. My first piece of advice would be to bring back old -- and develop new -- annual events like "The Festival of the Masters" that can attract a variety of people. They are trying now with a limited time thing with only Disney artists but it is not the same at all.
 
roj2323

roj2323

Well-Known Member
TP2000 said:
Bingo!

I am in the camp that thinks Disney Springs looks like a nice mall, but the retail mix is all wrong for Central Florida. It's far too upscale and overpriced for the Orlando market. The vast majority of locals are a pool of working-class consumers living in a small Southern city with a relatively low income level and can't/shouldn't spend their money on this type of merchandise. The tourists are higher up the socio-economic food chain than most locals, but are not high-end luxury tourists at an upscale vacation spot like Vail Colorado, Martha's Vineyard Massachusetts, La Jolla or Carmel or Laguna Beach California, etc.


If and when Disney Characters show up in Disney Springs to try and drive more visitation and higher sales, then we'll know the mall concept is failing at its original goals and TDO is panicking to drive more customers to the mall. Store closures will likely soon follow in 2017.
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I both agree and disagree. There is definitely a market for High end stores in the general area but they are already being filled by The Mall at Millenia. Additionally there are countless other malls in the area including several outlet malls (one is only a mile away) so unless your offerings are Unique there is No reason for locals to go to Disney Springs besides food.
 
Next Big Thing

Next Big Thing

Well-Known Member
roj2323 said:
I both agree and disagree. There is definitely a market for High end stores in the general area but they are already being filled by The Mall at Millenia. Additionally there are countless other malls in the area including several outlet malls (one is only a mile away) so unless your offerings are Unique there is No reason for locals to go to Disney Springs besides food.
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Most of the people I know that go to DS go because of Uniqlo. It's the only store in the southeast and everyone I know seems to love it so far. The other places are run of the mill mall store that are at almost all other malls in the area.
 
71jason

71jason

Well-Known Member
roj2323 said:
I both agree and disagree. There is definitely a market for High end stores in the general area but they are already being filled by The Mall at Millenia. Additionally there are countless other malls in the area including several outlet malls (one is only a mile away) so unless your offerings are Unique there is No reason for locals to go to Disney Springs besides food.
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^ This. You need a critical mass of stores to support the appearance of being an "all day" shopping venue. DS does not have that in the way FL Mall or the Outlets or even Millenia does. It's not a shopping destination yet, it's another Disney destination, that just happens to not offer a lot Disney.

Again, DS has a split personality. It wants to be Sand Lake Road--only stroller and dining plan friendly; it wants to be the outlet mall--but it lacks enough stores to compete; and it wants to be sort of a high-end Old Town/Fun Spot, i.e. a ticket-less theme park--but again, it lacks enough options to make that truly viable.
 

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